大壯 → 明夷

Commentary

Thunder above heaven draws the bow to its fullest, but the pellet-string snaps. Nine shots are fired and none reaches the target; the path ahead brings only harm. The imagery is of weaponry at full extension that fails at the critical moment — not from lack of strength but from mechanical breakdown. The string that connects force to projectile gives way, and all that stored power achieves nothing. From Great Power to Darkening of the Light, fire sinks beneath the earth in Mingyi: brilliance buried, vision obscured. The transformation maps precisely: the broken bow is the darkened light, power that cannot reach its mark because the medium of delivery has failed. In Mingyi, one must use darkness wisely; here, the darkness is simply the result of shattered aim.